It was one of those surrealist moments I had to day, to tell you the truth (and the resulting sketch is still at my desk at work).
When it comes to sexist/racist undercurrents, Cathy's pretty nefarious too. It is a familiar sexism we see in Cathy, and racism is expressed by exclusion. Hell, even Mort Walker has a more racially diverse world in Beetle Bailey than Cathy.
That's just the thing too. Cathy's premise is so promising: the adventures of a single woman in the workforce. But the process is so 1950's. The quest for a man, the constant dieting, the eternal obsessive dissatisfaction with body image, the codependent relationship with her mother. It's all just so . . . so . . . y'know? And while one could argue that Cathy is merely reflecting our culture, I will go one step further and say that that reflection is part of a feedback loop that perpetuates those attitudes and ensures that they stay fixed in society. Cathy's inner-life is the spiritual equivalent of Barbie-doll proportions.
As for Electra - Guisewite's best writing goes to the dogs. She has positioned Electra well as an impartial and somewhat bemused observer of the human condition, and she makes us envy the dogs for their sanity.
Yes, I think harder about comics than is probably healthy; but it amuses me.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: <i><b>yankee</b></i> desu ka?
Date: 2004-06-02 03:11 am (UTC)When it comes to sexist/racist undercurrents, Cathy's pretty nefarious too. It is a familiar sexism we see in Cathy, and racism is expressed by exclusion. Hell, even Mort Walker has a more racially diverse world in Beetle Bailey than Cathy.
That's just the thing too. Cathy's premise is so promising: the adventures of a single woman in the workforce. But the process is so 1950's. The quest for a man, the constant dieting, the eternal obsessive dissatisfaction with body image, the codependent relationship with her mother. It's all just so . . . so . . . y'know? And while one could argue that Cathy is merely reflecting our culture, I will go one step further and say that that reflection is part of a feedback loop that perpetuates those attitudes and ensures that they stay fixed in society. Cathy's inner-life is the spiritual equivalent of Barbie-doll proportions.
As for Electra - Guisewite's best writing goes to the dogs. She has positioned Electra well as an impartial and somewhat bemused observer of the human condition, and she makes us envy the dogs for their sanity.
Yes, I think harder about comics than is probably healthy; but it amuses me.